Big Red Barn and its many vendors are back in business.

The popular Big Red Barn flea market, off Highway 101 in Aromas, is up and running after a two-month interruption, much to the delight of vendors and their customers.

"We've had two financially successful Sundays. I'm thrilled," says Sandra Hill. She is the Santa Cruz fiduciary who was appointed by a judge to manage the company that owns the flea market, Stagecoach Territory, Inc., in the wake of the death of original owner Frances Ellingwood on March 9.

Goodwill Central Coast is providing management of the flea market, using a manager who has experience running the nonprofit's Santa Cruz flea market.

A May 29 court order gave the green light to reopen, followed by approval from the Monterey County Environmental Health Bureau on June 1. 

Hill says they learned at 3:30pm on that Friday that they could reopen the following Sunday. They met with vendors the Saturday before, and every one of the original vendors returned the following day, June 3.

The vendors are limited to an area with 170 spaces, down from the 300 the market was operating with previously. Some vendors who operated multiple spaces previously have consolidated to single spaces.

The market was operating under a 1977 permit for 170 spaces, but over the years expanded without seeking approvals. Hill says her next project is to work with the county to expand back up to 300.

One of the biggest issues facing the flea market over the past 10 years (in addition to previous traffic problems) has been too few bathrooms to meet county health codes. For now they are limiting the number of food vendors to keep within regulations. 

Hill says she and the county have been working closely together to get the market open and stay open for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, a legal fight over the estate of Ellingwood continues.

Ellingwood's companion and an officer of Stagecoach, Ken McPhail, says he has her true will which leaves everything to him. A former manager of the flea market, Manny Delgadillo, contends he has a different will that names him as her heir. 

The two sides were in probate court at the Monterey Courthouse on June 13 for a hearing. They return to court on Sept. 12, as they head toward a civil trial to determine which man will inherit.